Champion
by Kohaku Minamoto
Summary: AU. Keiko, a poor student striving to enter the college of her dreams, takes a job as a soccer coach to get a scholarship out of desperation. But can a teenage girl succeed in creating the perfect winning team? YusKei


Well…I've gotten a bit obsessed with the pairing Yusuke/Keiko lately, and I guess watching too many sports movies spawned this story in my mind. Hope you like it.

**DISCLAIMER**: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho or the sport of soccer (why is it that everyone else calls it 'football' but the Americans call it 'soccer'?).

* * *

**Chapter 1. The Teenage Coach**

You've heard this story before. A million times, if you've ever watched these sort of movies. "Remember the Titans", "Miracle", "Glory Field". Tales of bands of young misfits that somehow broke into the big-time just because of strong souls, team spirit, and most of all, love.

My story is like all the others, but it's also different. You've never heard of a teenage girl coaching a team that would go on to win a championship, have you? Well, here's one. My name is Keiko Yukimura. This story starts when I was seventeen years old, living in a middle-class family that was too poor to send me to the college I desperately wished to go to. It's about how I met eleven very extraordinary people, one of which turned out to be the man I would go on to love.

But I shouldn't spoil the ending for you.

* * *

"I'm sorry, Yukimura," the principal said kindly. "You didn't get the scholarship." 

My insides sank, and I was angry at myself for hoping. "Oh…" was the only thing I said, afraid to say any more in case the tears spilled out. "Sir, is there any way that I can still enter college with a scholarship?" I asked, desperate.

"Not this year, and next year we can't offer a scholarship, since our funds are so low."

"Please!" I was appalled at myself for sounding like I was pleading, but I didn't have anything else I could do. "I _need_ the scholarship."

"You could always go to a community college…"

How was I supposed to explain to the principal that the _only_ college I wanted to go to was Hoshika University? "I couldn't," I muttered. "Well, thank you anyway, sir. I'll be going now."

As I laid my hand on the doorknob, the principal spoke again. "You know, Yukimura," he said, thoughtfully and half-jokingly, "if you could get together a team that could beat Koraia in the JHSSC this year, I might seriously consider writing to the committee and getting you a scholarship."

In a flash, I was back at his desk. "Really?"

JHSSC stood for Japan High School Soccer Championships. Koraia High School, the other high school in town, had beaten my school, Anashi High, in the championships for the last five decades.

"I think the board would be willing to give the girl who won back the school's reputation a scholarship to college," the principal replied, smiling at my enthusiasm.

"Yes! I'll take the job!" All my sadness was gone now. I mentally cheered because the sport was soccer, a sport that I had played ever since primary school. Acting like some kind of American boy, I grabbed the principal's hand and pumped it up and down. "Thank you so much, sir!"

His wrinkled, lined face split in a full-blown grin. "You're welcome, Ms. Yukimura. Now, you can start assembling your team by putting up fliers around school…"

* * *

My best friend, Botan Daioh, met me outside the principal's office fifteen minutes later when I walked out, clutching a pile of fliers and grinning like a loon. "I see everything went well," she said, as happy as I was. "Got the scholarship?" 

"No," I said, and watched her face fall. "Not _the_ scholarship, but I can still get _a_ scholarship with the job I just took."

Botan grabbed me in a hug that made all breath leave my lungs in a loud _whoosh_. "Oh, I'm so happy for you, Keiko!" she cried out. "So, what's the job?"

"Coaching."

"Uh…what?"

"The principal wants me to assemble a soccer team for the JHSSC this year so that we can finally beat Koraia. He says that the board will probably give me a scholarship if my team wins."

"Oh!" Botan looked excited, her candy-colored eyes shining. "I'll join!"

If it had been anyone else, I would've protested, but I had seen Botan in action on the soccer field. With her outrageous blue hair, magenta eyes, and bubbly personality, she looked like she would be better on the cheerleading team, but – as she had claimed so many times – her heart belonged to soccer and nothing else. I grinned.

"All right. Please state your name, age, and what position you play." I knew perfectly well already, but decided to tease a little. My friend drew herself up to her fullest height.

"Botan Daioh, seventeen years old, defensive midfielder, Coach Yukimura!" she shouted out in military tones. Our gaze met for a second, and then we burst out laughing.

"Show up for tryouts next week," I said, now all seriousness. "Botan, you've got to understand – just because you're my friend doesn't mean you're automatically on the soccer team."

Botan's eyes mirrored my own solemnity. "I know." She'd been in the soccer business too long not to know that friendship wasn't enough to land her a spot on the team. "Keiko, I've got a question…"

"Mm?"

"Is this team going to be a girls' team?"

I pondered this for a second. Girls' soccer teams usually didn't get very far in JHSSC, mostly on account of the fact that they were so intimidated by their male peers. Most of the Anashi girl's soccer team had graduated already, leaving only me, Botan, and two other friends. It wouldn't be enough, and I didn't want to coach a team of guys.

Then a thought occurred to me, making a wide grin spread across my face. "Nope," I said proudly. "This isn't gonna be a girls' or a boys' team. This is going to be a co-ed team. The best team in Japan: the Anashi High School Soccer Team."

* * *

Sixteen people showed up for tryouts. I had to get the list down to eleven. 

I surveyed the signup list, grinning when I saw my friends' names listed there. Yukina Jaganshi and Shizuru Kuwabara – the former of which was a gentle honor student that played sweeper defense on the girls' team, the latter my upperclassman and a versatile player that could play both midfield and goalie well – were on the list.

I blew the new whistle that I had gotten last week. "All right," I called out. "Line up."

They did, and I saw that they were all different sizes and shapes. Some, like Shizuru's brother Kazuma, were tall and ungainly. Others, like Yukina's brother Hiei, were even shorter than I was. I sighed.

"Okay…hi, everyone, I'm Keiko Yukimura, your coach. You can call me Coach, Keiko, or Yukimura, but please treat me with the respect you would give any other coach, even though I may be younger than some of you. Now, all of you, state your name, age, and position, one at a time."

The first few in line looked awkward and didn't know what position they played, so I told them – in the kindest way that I knew how – to go home and work some more before they tried playing soccer again. That left me with thirteen people.

The next boy in line was none other than Shizuru's brother. I knew him mostly from my frequent visits to Shizuru's house, but I hadn't known that he'd played soccer. "Kazuma Kuwabara," he was saying. "I go by my last name. Seventeen years old, I play goalie."

I nodded. "Next?"

The boy next to him I knew by reputation. Yusuke Urameshi, the biggest and baddest punk to ever grace the halls of Anashi High School. He was Kuwabara's friend or rival, depending on what day of the week it was, and there were rumors that he had a criminal record already. "Yusuke Urameshi," he drawled, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "Seventeen, winger."

He still called himself a 'winger'? I raised my eyebrows. Years ago, wingers had been highly prized for being the most technically gifted players on the team, but ever since an English team had won the 1966 World Cup without natural wingers, that position had been seen more and more rarely.

"Winger, huh?" I glanced down at my clipboard. Yup, there it was, scrawled next to his name in messy handwriting. "All right. Next."

Yusuke stepped back, but not before tipping me a devilish wink that made me blush in spite of myself. The boy next to him stepped forward. "Shuichi Minamino," he said in a quiet voice. "I'm eighteen years old, and I play center midfield."

_Minamino_…My fingers clenched involuntarily on the clipboard's edge. _He_ was the boy that had beat me in the scholarship exam and stolen that hope away from me! The most popular boy in school, a young genius, and a star soccer player. And he was prettier than me, to boot.

_Listen to yourself, Keiko_, I berated myself. _He's a good soccer player, and I'm sure he didn't mean anything personal by taking the scholarship away from you. So let it go. You've got another chance._

"Uh…okay. Thanks. Next?"

"He goes by Kurama," Yusuke called out unexpectedly. Shuichi looked exasperated.

"Yes, Kurama is my nickname, and I don't mean being called by it."

"Oookay…" Now I was confused. How had a perfect student like him (on honor role, like Yukina) become friends with a delinquent like Yusuke? Ah, life was full of mysteries…

There was a much shorter individual next to him, dressed completely in black soccer gear(but missing the black eyeliner that most Goths used). On my visits to the Jaganshi estate, I had sometimes caught glimpses of Yukina's twin, the spiky-haired, grumpy individual that was her older brother (by five minutes), Hiei Jaganshi.

"Hiei Jaganshi," he grunted now, in a voice that clearly showed he didn't want to be anyone's friend. "Eighteen. Center midfield."

He had run with the track team last year too, I remembered as I glanced down at my notes. Yukina told me that, apparently, though her brother was very fast (he'd broken the school record for the 50 and the 100, as well as the mile), the coach had taken him off the team because he was, in the coach's words, 'vertically challenged'.

_I_ thought it was a stupid reason, as had Yukina (though she hadn't said it straight out). I nodded at Hiei. His eyes were crimson red, disconcerting but not surprising, considering that he was Yukina's twin. "Thank you, Hiei."

Next was my friend Yukina, wearing her soccer gear instead of her normal ensemble of dresses, her aqua hair tied up in a high ponytail. "My name is Yukina Jaganshi," she said softly, so quiet that it was barely audible. "I am eighteen years old and I play sweeper, defense." She bowed and stepped back. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Yusuke punch Kuwabara, who was gazing starry-eyed at Yukina.

"Thank you," I said, smiling at Yukina and receiving one in return. "Next?"

Botan stepped up. "Botan Daioh," she stated. "Seventeen, defensive midfielder."

There was no need to say anything else. "Next?"

Shizuru stubbed out the cigarette that she was smoking. "Shizuru Kuwabara. Nineteen, any midfield position."

I rolled my eyes at the cigarette lying on the grass, but knew better than to try and stop her. Shizuru had a reputation for being completely and utterly independent, and the rest of us had given up on trying to get her to stop smoking. "Okay. Next?"

"Jin Soyokaze," the redhead beside Shizuru said, cheerfully. "Eighteen, fullback."

_Another one of the popular jocks,_ I thought. "Next."

"Touya Juhyoo. Eighteen, attacking midfielder."

While Jin was outgoing, optimistic, and generally a guy that everyone liked, Touya was quiet, withdrawn, and more studious. Not many people (at least, of the male population; most girls seemed fascinated by him) wanted to go near him because of his creepy eyes (though he could see just fine, they had been damaged when he was little). But, for the same inexplicable reason that Yusuke and Kurama were friends, Touya and Jin were practically inseparable, like brothers.

"Next."

"Shishiwakamaru," the long-haired boy next to Touya sniffed. "Nineteen, wingback."

Ah, dang it. Shishiwakamaru (he'd never told anyone whether 'Wakamaru' was his last name or not) was number two on the school's male popularity list (number one being Kurama and number three being either Hiei, Touya, or Jin). I hadn't known that he played soccer. More pretty boys on this team. Great.

"Suzuka was supposed to be here," Shishiwakamaru added, as an afterthought, "but he broke his leg last weekend and couldn't make it."

I knew, for a fact, that Shishiwakamaru, Suzuka (the self-proclaimed 'Most Beautiful' in school), Jin, and Touya shared an old dojo with two other individuals, one of which was a perpetually-drunk Aussie who played football for the college team, the other an elementary school kid who was a genius with yo-yos. I hadn't known that Suzuka played soccer eitherand almost rolled my eyes.

"Next."

The remaining three that I had left consisted of Kina Hizu (seventeen, defensive midfield), Ryu Kanashi (eighteen, central midfield), and Sunao Hatsuri (eighteen, sweeper). All of them had crazy hair – Kina's hair was a vivid shade of red that rivaled Kurama's own long hair; Ryu had bright purple highlights; Sunao's dark brown hair was chin-length but stuck out, spiky and unruly like a boy's.

I set my clipboard down. This was a hard choice; all of them were very capable players, I knew, but which ones would work best on a team?

"All right. We're going to start the actual tryouts. Midfielders, you're up first."

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Originally, I was going to make this longer, but I decided not to. Hope you all liked it,because I had a hell of a time choosing names for those whodidn't already have given surnames.Review!

**Next Time**: Keiko's gotten through the introductions, but what about the actual tryouts? Will she be stuck with a team that hates her? Will she have to send her best friends home? And what happens when Yusuke starts flirting with her? Make sure and tune in next time to Champion!


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